XIAOMI FIMI X8 SE Review 2022 – Good Mavic Alternative?

For interesting landscape shots a drone is the best choice. It is easy to fly good camera drones these days and they deliver pin-sharp images in Full HD and 4K.

An interesting, but cheaper alternative is now available from the Chinese brand manufacturer Xiaomi, namely the FIMI X8SE, which has a surprising number of similar features. The X8SE drone is marketed under the subsidiary brand FIMI. The FIMI X8 SE has a 4K camera and a three-axis gimbal and, thanks to its foldable design.

Typical for Xiaomi is the low entry price of well under 500,- USD. With regard to the extensive equipment, the new 4K camera drone offers an extremely good price-performance ratio.

Let’s dive into the FIMI X8SE  by looking at its appearance.

The FIMI X8SE dronem are very compact, the arms can be folded up. As you can see on the picture below, the FIMI X8SE can be stored together with the remote control in a medium-sized photo bag.The consumer drone has very small dimensions of only 204 x 106 x 72.6 millimetres with the arms folded in. This makes the drone about the size of a conventional smartphone. The take-off weight of the FIMI X8SE is 822 grams. This is also due to the fact that the drone FIMI X8SE has a battery with a capacity of 4500 mAh (at 11.4V). This results in a significantly longer flight time of up to 35 minutes despite the high weight. This is already a remarkably long side for a drone, a real plus point for the FIMI X8SE.

Using the 4,500 mAh battery, the FIMI X8SE should achieve a flight time of about 35minutes. The manufacturer specifies the maximum flight speed at 64.8 kilometers per hour (18 meters per second).

The maximum flight altitude is 500 meters. The maximum flight distance of up to10 kilometres is sufficiently dimensioned.

Propellers

The propellers of the FIMI X8SE can be removed and reinstalled very easily. Just push the propeller down a little bit and you can take it off by a slight turn. Each drone has two different shaped propellers, but there is no risk of confusion, because only the correct propellers will engage with the respective engine.
The foldable propellers of the FIMI X8SE have certainly also the advantage that they collapse quickly in front of an obstacle in case of an emergency landing in high grass or bushes, they do not take damage as fast as rigid propellers.
At a distance of 50 to 100m it is hardly audible. Also, in terms of speed the FIMI X8SE does not need to hide, it can go up to 65 km/h which is more than decent.

Remote control and Return to Home

The FIMI X8 SE drone is controlled by an included remote control. Its left stick controls the height of the drone and the direction of rotation. By using the right stick you can move the drone in all four directions. The speed changes depending on how far you move the control stick.

FIMI X8 SE with 4K camera and 3-axis gimbal

The XIAOMI FIMI X8 SE is equipped with a 4K camera and a 3-axis gimbal. The camera itself has a Sony IMX378 image sensor with a resolution of 12 megapixels.
The classic 1/2.3-inch image sensor is quite reputable and is used in high-end smartphones such as Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL.
With a rotary wheel on the left side you can control the gimbal, i.e. you can tilt the camera downwards and even shoot recordings from a bird’s eye view. Light exposure is usually automatic. This is often helpful if you have a lot of sky in the picture or the camera is blinded by the sun. Another button on the right side is used to start and land the drone.

Remote control with smartphone app

The included remote control of the FIMI X8SE drone is very similar to the remote control of the DJI Mavic Pro.
The mechanism for plugging in the smartphone, however, is not located below the controller, but in the middle.
The FIMI X8SE has a different mounting solution, you can pull the remote control apart, the smartphone is clamped in the middle by a spring mechanism.In addition, the FIMI X8SE supports so-called Smart Tracking with the sub-modes Trace, Lock.

All in all, the drone offers very similar flight modes as the more expensive DJI drones. The quality of the result is also close to that of the more expensive DJI drones. Many of the functions are also similar in terms of operation.